Commander, Reporting for Duty
by Teh Healist
Summary: [Red Alert 2] The Allied forces are running tight on Commanders for field campaigns, but they come up with a novel idea: sending the Commander into combat with his soldiers.
1. The Situation

A/N: Alright, this is my shot at a Red Alert 2 fic. For those of you who have no idea what RA2 is, and you found out about this through my FFTA stories, it's a game about war between the Soviets (yes… the USSR is still around) and the Allies. It's after WWII (with all this high-tech weaponry 'n stuff), but explaining how there are still Soviets and Allies in a war against each other would give away the plot of the game. If you wanna find out, buy the original Red Alert along with Red Alert 2. And for kicks, get RA2's expansion, Yuri's Revenge.

ANYWAY, on with the story…

Commander, Reporting for Duty: The Situation 

BEEP. "You have an incoming connection request."

'Not this early… please, not this early…'

BEEP. "You have an incoming connection request."

'What the hell does Command want me for? Don't they have any other Commanders to bug at this ungodly hour?'

BEEP. "You have an incoming connection request."

"Alright! Alright, dammit! Just give me a second!"

BEEP. "You have an incoming connection request."

Grumbling about how the military communications system is too pushy for his likings (and how he ought to just rip the whole damn system out of his house), Commander Phoenix got up and pressed the little green button to accept the connection request. The nice people at Command would be getting a good view of Phoenix in all his glory. Serves them right for waking him up at this hour…

"You could have tried to at least put SOMETHING on…"

Much to his horror, it wasn't just anyone at Command who was patching in to Phoenix, but Lieutenant Eva and General Carville, both of whom were wincing. However, the young Commander took it in stride, and instead of growing red with embarrassment and trying to cover himself, he responded rather coolly.

"You could have at least waited until a decent hour to drag me out of bed."

On the screen, Phoenix saw Carville look over at Eva and asked her, "Is he REALLY all we've got?"

"Yes, General. He's all we've got."

That confused Phoenix. Feeling he had given the two officers enough of a view of his (in his mind) perfect body, he started to dress himself while he asked, "With all due respect, what do you mean I'm all you've got?"

Carville gave the Commander a smirk. "'With all due respect'? I hardly think flashing everyone at Command counts as 'all due respect'…"

"Sir…"

"Right, we've got a problem here, Commander." He turned once more to Eva. "Briefing is your field of expertise, not to mention your job."

Eva rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen. "Here's the problem Commander-"

"Phoenix."

She paused, seemingly confused. "What?"

"My name's Phoenix."

"Military regulations require that I call you Commander."

"And I would like you to call me Phoenix."

"The PROBLEM, if you WILL!"

"Here's the problem…" she hesitated. "… Phoenix."

"Thank you."

"All the current Commanders are either on leave and unreachable, out on an ongoing campaign, or missing."

"… What do you mean 'missing'?"

"Just that. We've had several Commanders kidnapped in the past few days. Several prominent Commanders. Remember the one who single-handedly defeated the Soviets in Cuba while defending Einstein's Chronosphere?"

Phoenix laughed. "Who doesn't?" Commander Jack, or "Captain Jack" as his friends called him, is one of the most famous Allied Commanders known.

"He's missing, too."

Phoenix laughing? Not anymore. "Your kidding."

"Comm- Phoenix. When I'm on duty, I don't kid."

"Alright… so I'm the only commander left?"

Carville sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Hey, I resent that! So what's the situation?"

"Pretty grim, Commander."

"That's not saying much." And in truth, it wasn't. It was "pretty grim" when the Commies were taking over the U.S. from almost every angle, and the Allied forces still managed to pull through.

"Here's the problem: We're running low on field Commanders, and the Soviets know it. So, using their superior numbers, they've began running quite a few more operations than we can handle. Each operation will be reaching its climax within a few days of the others. We need to be quick, but we need the right type of striking power for the job."

"Well, then you've found the right man, then. I'll just strut into the Soviet base, flashing a smile, and they'll all immediately bow down to me a defect to the Allies shortly thereafter."

"Commander, this is serious!"

"I know… I was just trying to be a little light about it…"

"Well don't be light, alright? We need someone who knows when to be serious."

Phoenix nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Eva."

"… Huh?"

Eva shot him a smirk. "My name's Eva."

Phoenix cracked a grin. "I'm ready to get down to business, Eva."

"Alright, then… report to Command within the hour, Commander."

"You've taken to calling me Commander again."

Eva shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

A/N: Obviously that chapter was fairly short. It was the introduction chapter, so that's kind've to be expected, no? Well anyway, the conflict has been revealed, and it seems like Phoenix is ready for some action.


	2. The Vehicles

A/N: Sorry for the long delay after such a short chapter. I'm kinda slow in getting chapters out. Not to mention I just got back from a 9-day trip to Spain, which delayed this chapter by another week. Oh, and I forgot about a disclaimer thingy that seems to be required. Maybe not, but I'm not going to risk it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Red Alert or any of its sibling games. Some awesome nerds at Westwood have that honor. They're my idols.

Anyway, here's the next one.

The Vehicles

Phoenix was having trouble wiping the grin off of his face that had been plastered there since he'd been given the order to arrive at Command within the hour. He'd finally been called for active duty! Finally, all of the other commanders were doing something else, and Phoenix would get his chance to show that the fact he ranked lowest for commanding competency was a fluke. He was practically giggling when he slid his ID card through the reader and heard the automated voice respond.

"Welcome to HQ, Commander Phoenix."

"You're two minutes late, commander."

The second, non-automated voice belonging to General Carville wasn't exactly a perk for Phoenix.

"I hit traffic, sir."

"A good excuse, but I've heard it far too often to believe it anymore. Now, follow me."

Carville spun around and started walking through Command. He walked past Intel Ops stations, the Radio Comm Link stations, and even the Field Command Interface Station. That one was Eva's, and she wasn't there. This struck Phoenix as odd, because he always assumed she operated everything in her power from her terminal, and never had a need to leave it, except to eat, sleep, and go to the restroom.

Shrugging it off, he continued to follow Carville deeper and deeper into Command. He'd never gone this far in the tour of the facility. They kept passing armed guards who all saluted Carville (who saluted back), and kept reaching security doors that had more and more complicated codes the deeper they went. Now they were descending flight after flight of stairs, still coming up on security doors. There were no guards this far into… wherever they were going. Phoenix had no idea. Finally, after Carville unlocked another security door, they reached a huge room.

Well, it seemed huge to Phoenix, judging by the sudden fresh air in the room, and the soft breeze. It seemed almost like a cavern. However, it could be the size of a closet for all Phoenix knew, since it was pitch black. A door opened to their left, and Phoenix saw Eva walk out, carrying a checklist and holding a flashlight.

"Good morning, Commander."

"Phoenix."

"Right. Phoenix."

Phoenix looked around, his confusion eminent. "Ummm… what's with all the darkness? Can't we turn on a few lights?"

Eva shook her head. "I'd rather not. What we're about to show you looks a lot cooler when viewed one at a time under a spotlight."

"Huh?"

The Lieutenant smiled, shook her head and responded simply, "Just wait."

Phoenix shrugged. "Alright. If you say so. But if you don't mind me saying, if it really is all that cool, I would like to get a move on, y'know?"

Eva nodded. "Let's get rolling then. But before we start, you'll need some background information. Our Einstein Crew came up with a rather clever idea. They thought that our soldiers on the battlefield would get a great morale boost if their Commander fought alongside them instead of from the safety of a holo screen."

"But if the Commander died, wouldn't there be mass mayhem?"

"Exactly."

Pause.

"So… I'm not catching your drift, yet."

"The Crew came up with another rather clever idea: give the Commander some high-tech, ultra-durable battle gear so his chances of surviving and carrying on with the fight are much higher."

"So you're saying that the Einstein Crew came up with a bunch of new toys for the Commanders to play with?"

"Not just toys… powerful toys."

"Pimp-ness."

"What?"

"Never mind. Continue."

"Right. Anyway, seeing as how we're running a bit low on Commanders at the moment, it looks like you're the lucky guy who gets to be our first Field Commander."

"Nice."

"And sitting in this room are all the gizmos you'll be potentially using."

"Nice!"

Eva pulled out a hand remote from one of her pockets and pressed a button, turning on a spotlight that showed some interesting looking technology on a raised platform. Instead of a vehicle, it looked more like body armor. Complete body armor, actually. Phoenix couldn't see any points on the armor suit that showed the wearer's skin. It reminded him of several video game heroes. It wasn't just the armor that was of interest, but some of the stuff attached to it as well. A jetpack, for one thing, was an eye-catcher. It also had what seemed like a flip-down targeting monocle, although Phoenix couldn't imagine what for. He also noticed, slung around the chest of the armor (for it was on a mannequin of sorts) an evil-looking rifle that had a grenade-launching apparatus.

"This is the first of several 'Commanding Units' that the Einstein Crew came up with. For close combat or urban situations, they figured an infantry suit would be more effective than a vehicle."

"I agree. This looks like something Jango Fett would wear."

"… I'm sorry?"

"Jango Fett? Never heard of him? How about Boba Fett?"

Eva shook her head. "Sorry. Can't really say I have."

"You need to get out more. Go on."

"Anyway, it's equipped with jetpack, as you can see. It's also equipped with Micro Wrist Rockets."

"Wait… say that again?"

"What, the Micro Wrist Rockets?"

"Where are those?"

Eva cracked a grin. "Ah… those would be located on the wrists."

"I know that! I don't see them, though."

"Hence the 'Micro' bit. They pack quite a punch for such little guys."

"How do I activate them?"

"This button here." She pointed to a small, barely visible button fairly high up on the wrist.

"I swear, the Einstien Crew has been watching too much Star Wars. Don't ask, Eva… just continue."

The Lieutenant gave him a weird look. "Whatever. As for your weapon, you'll be equipped with a rapid fire assault rifle using relatively new Heat Sealant technology, tripling its rate of fire when being compared to today's leading assault rifles. It also has some sniping capabilities, but they're not great. It's also equipped with a grenade launcher."

"Yeah, I noticed the launcher. What's that eyepiece for?"

"As a matter of fact, you use that when operating the grenade launcher."

"Huh?"

"Your weapon has several directional bearing devices that allow it to know what direction it's facing, what angle, etc. It's wirelessly connected to your combat suit, which allows the eyepiece, when powered up, to highlight the grenade's trajectory when fired from whatever angle you're holding the rifle. Very handy for calibrating shots."

"I would imagine."

"Alright. Next one." Eva pressed a button on her remote, and another spotlight clicked on.

This one looked like a motorcycle. Except, it was a motorcycle with a full slide-over canopy that you would most likely see on a fighter jet instead of a motorcycle. Not only that, but the backseat was facing… well… backwards. It seemed that the backseat "co-pilot" acted as a gunner, as there was an anti-aircraft type machine gun for the co-pilot's use. However, any commander knew that bullet-based AA weaponry was equally effective against ground-based infantry as well as aircraft. As Phoenix's interest shifted from the tail gunner to the actual driver, he noticed a machine gun mounted between the headlights.

'Man, this thing is really geared for combat, isn't it?' He thought to himself.

"This is the Einstien Crew's souped up Attack Bike."

"What do you mean "souped up"?"

"Oh, we now have mainstream Attack Bikes in our standard arsenal. They just don't have the bullet-proof canopy this one is equipped with. Believe me, our Bright Boys in the Backroom had a tough time slapping that on while preventing air friction from reducing it's cruising speed."

"I would imagine. What's with all the guns?"

"Well, the idea behind the Attack Bike is to get in there, shoot a bunch of guys, wreak a bunch of havoc, and get out before the enemy has a chance to organize itself and form a counter-strike to the sudden onslaught."

"What about Tesla Coils and tanks? Unless these guns have armor-piercing ammo, I doubt they'll be able to take down an Apocalypse, no matter how many bikes we have shooting at it."

"For Tesla Coils, there's really only one solution: avoid them. They're instant death for the bikes. Maybe if you have a really good gunner with a Hellfire armament-"

"Wait… there are bikes equipped with MISSILES? Why's this guy have a machine gun?"

"That brings me to the solution for tanks. The Hellfire VII Missiles are designed for bringing down tanks with only a few short bursts. And if you have a good gunner, she could possibly take down a coil if you're far away and driving away from it."

"Oh, that makes sense- Wait… whaddya mean 'she'?"

"Through several studies and tests, we've found out that female soldiers have better overall coordination when it comes to the gunner position on these bikes. Sure men are competent enough, but women can do the job better."

"Fair enough, I guess."

"Right, next one."

Another spotlight flicked on. However, Phoenix couldn't see anything in its light at first. After a few seconds though, he started seeing a faint distortion in the light, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"I'm not really seeing much…"

"That's the point. One second." She pressed a button on her remote and a Harrier-class aircraft suddenly appeared. Phoenix was stunned for a short moment.

"… I take it that the Einstein Crew has improved the Mirage technology?"

"Greatly improved it. A vehicle can hide itself while moving now, but only for a short while. It's really good for getting out of tight spots."

"What else does this guy have?"

"See those machine gun side armaments?"

"Yeah… standard Harrier side-arms."

"Wrong. Remember those Hellfire VII missiles that we can equip the Attack Bikes with? We've given your Command Harrier Hellfire VIII Micro Missiles. Simply put, bullets with a bang."

"Pretty pimp."

"Uh… sure. Anyway, the Micro Missiles are good for dog-fights as well as attacking ground-based targets, although the Harrier's main payload does a better job for Surface-to-Ground strikes."

"Of course."

"Next."

Click. The next spotlight showed a tank.

A very, very big tank.

"Compared to a Battle Fortress, how big is this guy?"

"About twice the size."

Phoenix let out an impressed whistle. And it did indeed look about twice the size of the Allied behemoth. It had double-treads (apparently two weren't enough for the job) and two turrets. One was pretty far in front, slightly smaller, and looked like it was equipped with Missile Racks, though Phoenix couldn't make out the model based on their housing. The rear turret was slightly larger, looked more heavily armored, and had a Grand Cannon-looking turret. Phoenix also noticed a pair of Comet cannons found on a Prism Tank. This thing had a lot of big, big guns.

"This, Phoenix, had to be the hardest project our engineers have EVER worked on, and they swear they'll never make another one if they can help it. Take REALLY good care of this tank, Phoenix."

"I think it can take care of itself."

"Well being the biggest tank in the contingent, it will undoubtedly attract a lot of fire. Hence, all the armaments. Grand cannon to pound tanks into the ground, Comet cannons to fry infantry and help take out tanks, missiles for aircraft and airborne missiles-"

"By the way, what model missiles are they? I don't recognize the housing…"

Eva smirked. "Phoenix V Seek and Destroy missiles."

Phoenix grinned. "I KNEW I was popular around here."

"Don't get too cocky, kid," Carville grunted, "You'll see why they're called Phoenix missiles once you're in combat."

Phoenix nodded. "Got it. Is that it for this guy?"

"Just about. Next."

The final spotlight clicked on and Phoenix saw a submarine. A very technical-looking submarine. It had several servo arms that ended in clamps. A few more servo arms ending with harpoon-looking devices. Phoenix also saw three torpedo tubes. A few more servo arms were equipped with round, dull-looking metal balls attached to the end. On top of the sub were two radar dishes. Why a submarine (or any vehicle for that matter) would need more than one radar was beyond Phoenix, and would be one of his questions for Eva. He also saw a pair of Vulcan Cannons mounted on top of the submarine, one on each end.

"That's one gnarly sub, Eva."

"You bet it is. It'll be your command sub in naval operations."

"Whoa… since when have we used submarines in our navy?"

"We don't. This is the only one that will be employed. Makes it a little safer from the Soviet navy, don't you agree? Not to mention it makes it easier to spot their Typhoon subs and Squids, no?"

"True."

"Anyway, on with its gadgets. You can see several servo arms."

"Several being an understatement. When the heck am I gonna need clamps?"

"I dunno. We sort of thought we might need to use the Command Sub on missions that involve retrieving toxic waste from the bottom of the ocean or something. 'Be prepared', right?"

"I guess."

"Right, the harpoons have explosive tips, helpful for turning squiddies and subs into dust before they can reach you."

"And what if the squids grab a hold of me? Aside from dolphins, we don't have much defense against latched on squids, and even dolphins still damage the ship under fire."

"Hence, the third set of servos. Those bulbs at the end? Then can unleash electrical charges when activated and deliver roughly 4,000 volts into the squid. If that's not enough, then you were probably screwed to begin with, anyway. The Vulcan Cannons can also help if they're in range of the squids head. They also help taking out Soviet naval craft and Dreadnought missiles."

"Got it… what's with the two radars?"

Eva grinned. "That was a little bit of my ingenuity, actually. One is your radar, and the other is your radar jammer."

Phoenix blinked, clearly confused. "Why would I want to jam my own radar?"

"Not yours you idiot! It jams SOVIET radar."

"And how come it doesn't jam mine?"

"Soviet radar and Allied radar are on different frequencies so that they can't see what we see, and vice versa. Well, some of our top spies managed to get ahold of the Soviet's radar frequency and wired it back to Allied Command. So, the jammer has been adjusted to that frequency. The first time you use this puppy, it'll take them far too long to adjust the frequency on all their radar units, and you'll most likely have your mission accomplished by then."

"That is pretty brilliant, I must say."

Eva gave a mock bow. "Thank you, thank you." She straightened up and smiled. "That concludes our tour of the vehicles. You ready for your first mission, Commander?"

"You bet."

"Good. Follow me…"

A/N: alright, that's it. Next chapter will be Phoenix's first mission (obviously), and no, the missions will not be ordered in relation to the ordering of the vehicles. By the way, I don't own Star Wars, Boba Fett, or Jango Fett.


	3. Flight

A/N: Alright… finally some action for you guys. Hope you enjoy this one.

Flight

Eight fighter jets screamed across the sky towards Soviet Russia. The plan was to use afterburners almost the entire trip, refuel over Germany via tanker aircraft, continue to Russia, accomplish the mission, and land back in Germany. Phoenix still remembered the briefing with Eva…

"Alright, your first in-field assignment will require the use of the Mirage Harrier aircraft. Allied Intel has caught wind of an experimental missile silo deep in Soviet Russia. From what our agents could gather, it is some sort of Electro-Magnetic Pulse ICBM.

While many of our Command Bunkers in the States are resistant to explosive missiles, these "EMP Nukes" can, due to their nature, easily reach Allied Command Stations and wreak chaos when our Command-to-Field interface goes off-line.

This silo MUST be destroyed."

… So now Phoenix, with his wing of seven other "Hell's Angels", was racing towards Russia with a payload of Firestorm Bombs. These explosives were dropped in clusters and exploded in a flaming inferno. Simply put, anything hit with a barrage of Firestorm Bombs doesn't last very long.

Their presence would undoubtedly be sighted early on due to long-ranged radar scanners, so Phoenix had to be ready for scrambled aircraft sent to take them out. It would be relatively easy for Phoenix, armed with his ballistic bullets. He just had to be careful not to hit his wingmen. They also had to be ready for Ground-to-Air defenses, such as Flak batteries and SAM sites. The latter could be easily countered by decoy flares. The former would be slightly more difficult to avoid and would probably require a lot of luck or fancy flying to get past.

After they reached their refueling rendezvous point and the tankers wished the pilots luck on their mission, Phoenix and his wingmen raced forward towards their impending target… and quite possibly their impending doom.

"Angel One, this is Angel Six. First wave of scrambled resistance detected at two o'clock. Over"

"Fighter wave confirmed, Angel Six. Execute maneuver Beta-Twelve. Repeat, execute maneuver Beta-Twelve. Over."

"Roger, over and out."

All "Beta-Twelve" meant was spread out and split up into two groups that would flank the opposition and cause them to either split up and fight each group separately or stick together and make for an easy target. Maneuver Beta-Twelve was generally accepted among commanders as one of the more effective defensive maneuvers in any situation, be it land, sea, or air.

The squadron split up into two groups of four and spread out considerably. As the opposing fighters –a couple of older MIGs by the looks of it- Phoenix's wingmen began to coordinate targets for themselves, making sure each pilot took on a different aircraft to maximize efficiency. Phoenix himself dropped back to take out any Soviets who managed to get on the tail of one of his pilots.

"Incoming missiles detected. Taking evasive actions. Over."

Several of the pilots executed barrel rolls to avoid the rockets as they raced past. The others fired missiles of their own, each one locking on and striking a MIG. Within a few minutes, the squad of MIGs was taken out.

"That was the warm-up round, boys. Over."

"No kidding. Over."

"Attack choppers on the rise at Ten. Over."

"Bring 'em on. Over."

One by one, the Harriers peeled off of their original course and lined up with the approaching helicopters. Once they were close enough, the Helis began pelting the Harriers with bullet rounds. The Hell's Angels returned the favor, Phoenix bringing up the rear and sending his micro missiles flying. One of them struck a helicopter and it fell out of the sky, smoking.

"I've got one on my six. Over."

"He's as good as gone. Over."

One of Phoenix's wingmen fell in behind the tailing chopper and pumped him full of lead. The helicopter followed its comrade to the ground.

"Angel Four sustaining damage! Need back-up ASAP! Over!"

"Copy that Angel Four. I've got you covered. Over."

Phoenix throttled forward, zipped by another Heli, and fell in behind the one locked on to Angel Four. He sent a few micro missiles streaking towards the aircraft and brought it down. He then S-turned to face the helicopter he had passed, which was now facing him and firing rounds at him. Phoenix didn't want to risk getting hit while he was calibrating his shot. He grinned and reached for the "Red Button".

"Time for some stealth." Click.

From inside the cockpit of the Attack Helicopter, the gunner blinked in surprise as he saw his target fade from view. He then heard the roar of engines racing by him and saw miniaturized rockets flying towards him… too late.

Phoenix grinned as he saw the Heli go up in flames.

"That's the last one. Let's move on. Over."

"Copy that Commander. Returning to main course. Over and out."

For about an hour, their flight remained uneventful. Then they hit their first big city. It had a high-rise metropolis… and undoubtedly a lot of anti-aircraft artillery.

"Alright boys… get ready for resistance. Over."

"Copy that. Over."

"Wouldn't it be better to circumnavigate the city, sir? Over."

"Negative. The city is flanked by several airbases. Circumnavigating those would deviate us off the course too much. Through the city is our safest bet. Over."

"Roger that. Over."

"Sir. SAM missiles incoming. Over."

"You know what to do. Take whatever action you deem necessary to avoid them. Over."

Phoenix saw the smoke trails streaking towards them and peeled off to the left, just missing the rocket.

"See if you can lose them with altitude. Over."

"Roger that. Over."

They all started climbing in a near-vertical manner in an attempt to shake of the SAMs. Eventually, they did lose the missiles… but were now faced with black clouds of death.

"Flak! Okay, higher altitudes won't fix our problems, men. Our last option is lower altitude. See that metropolis down there? Aim for that. The Commies wouldn't dare fire SAMs into their precious city. Once you come out the other end, use your afterburners for about a minute or so to get out of range of the SAMs. Over."

"We copy that, Angel One. Over."

Now, to drop the altitude they had just gained, the eight pilots began a freefall towards the city. About 300 feet above the high-rise buildings, they started leveling off and dropped into the canyon of buildings.

"I recommend we vary our altitudes to avoid crashing. Over."

"Agreed. Starting at 50 feet, we'll increase our altitude in order of Squad Number in increments of 15 feet. Over."

"Copy that. Over."

Phoenix dropped down low, taking the lead and dictating what course they would take. He saw their canyon narrowing and saw a wider opening to the left.

"Left turn at 11 o'clock. Over."

"Roger. Over."

They all, in turn, angled left and pulled in to the next street of buildings. What they were met with surprised all of them.

"I'm seeing reports from rifles down below. Over."

"I see them too. Over."

Indeed, it seemed like an alarm had alerted the town of their presence and some sort of town militia had come out to gun them down.

"Airspace is too narrow to return fire, soldiers. Ignore them unless they fall directly into your current course. That's an order. Over."

"Understood. Over."

Phoenix heard several bullets ricochet harmlessly off of his wing. He just hoped one wouldn't find his payload.

"Set of freeway overpasses ahead. Should we pull up to avoid it? Over."

"That's a negative. Pulling up will put us back in range of the SAMs. Have any of you been stunt pilots before? Over."

"No sir. But it seems like this is our first lesson. Over."

"You got that right. Stay on my six and follow me. Over."

"Just don't get us killed, sir. Over."

Phoenix chuckled to himself and dropped down to level himself with the overpasses, grinning. The people down below would be getting quite a show in a moment.

"Fasten your seatbelts, boys, because here we go. Over."

After he flew over the first road, Phoenix dropped down to pass under the second one. He hit a half-barrel roll and took the next bridge upside down.

"Is this really necessary, sir? Over."

"Now's not the time to be questioning authority, soldier. Over."

The pilot may have been right, but Phoenix was having fun. Besides, Carville had told him these were the best of the best… they could handle it. He altered his course a few points to the left to fly over a rising overpass and then rolled 90 degrees to fly between a pair of pylons to get past the last bridge. Once he was out, he glanced behind him to see if all his wingmen were there.

"Did everyone make it out alright? Over."

"Yes sir… let's not try that again, though. Over."

"I hear you. Over."

They continued flying through the city, finally rocketing out of the other side with afterburners on full. Phoenix saw the SAMs coming after them, but saw they were no match for the afterburners. He smirked when he saw them explode harmlessly in mid-air.

"Scrambled fighters coming from Five and Seven o'clock. Over."

"Split up and take them on. Over."

Phoenix saw the fighters on his radar and he was worried. He saw about six coming from both airbases, and he could afford to send only four to match each squad. He'd have to hope these men really were the best of the best.

He joined the group headed for Seven o'clock squadron. He checked his gauge and saw his cache of micro missiles was about ¾ full. He figured that would easily be enough.

"Five o'clock sub-squadron. Change to a different frequency so as to avoid confusion between sub-squadrons. Over."

"Roger. Over."

When the opposing fighters were close enough to look slightly bigger than black dots, Phoenix radioed to his squadron, "Engage when you see fit. Over."

"The one on the left is mine. Over."

"Target locked… I'm taking you down, Red…"

Phoenix smiled as he saw a missile zip from one of his wingmen and strike one of the approaching fighters.

"I'll be right back. Play nice, children. Over."

He hit the Red Button, dropped down below his squadron mates and raced forward full throttle. He passed by the Red fighters undetected, S-turned to come up behind them. By that time, his mirage effect wore off and the Reds had undoubtedly noticed him.

'Too late.' Phoenix thought to himself. He saw one break formation to turn back and face him. Phoenix was waiting for this, and while the fighter was halfway through its turn, the point where the most surface area was exposed to Phoenix, the Commander unleashed his barrage of rockets upon the unfortunate Soviet. The aircraft went up in flames and Phoenix turned his attention towards the remaining wing of Soviets. He saw another one explode, due to one of his wingmen's rockets, and then saw them open fire upon his Harriers.

"Not on my watch, you don't." Phoenix muttered to himself, locking on to one of the peripheral fighters and firing one of his heat-seeking missiles.

POW! Three to go. Unfortunately, they had split up, because his wingmen had engaged in evasive actions. Phoenix was now hesitant to use his micro missiles, as he may accidentally hit one of his own pilots.

His worries were put at ease when two more of the Reds were shot down.

"Commander? I've got one on my tail. Assistance requested. Over."

"Coming in. Over."

Phoenix came up behind the enemy aircraft, took careful aim, and fired two or three micro missiles, which easily made contact with the Red…

FWISH.

… but not before the Soviet pilot fired off a missile.

"No… Soldier! Take evasive action!" But by then it was too late. The missile had found its mark, and Phoenix heard the pilot frantically giving readings of his current status. But the Commander sighed and shook his head. He knew it wouldn't help the pilot any. A hit at point blank range like that pretty much doomed any aircraft on the receiving end of the blow. All the pilot could do was eject from the aircraft to escape death… death at the hands of the vehicle, anyway. The problem was that he would be ejecting into Soviet territory… a dangerous place for any lone soldier except maybe for Special Agent Tanya.

"God damn, I hate losing soldiers like that…" He muttered to himself.

His remaining wingmen flew full throttle to get a status report on the other four pilots Phoenix had dispatched. Their dogfight was over as well, and they had lost two pilots during the battle.

"Alright… let's hope we don't get a situation like that again, okay? Over."

"Roger. Over."

"Main target coming up over that hill. Over."

"I see it. Over."

"Alright men, this is it. Three of our brethren went down so that we could accomplish our mission. Let's try not to fail them. Fire your main armaments once you are in range. Over."

"Understood. Over."

They continued flying towards the Silo until it was about a mile away.

"Target in range. Firing Firestorm Bombs. Over."

"Unleashing main armament. Over."

"Opening bombing bay doors. Over."

"Dropping ballistics now. Over."

"Giving those Soviets a piece of my mind. Over."

As each set of high tech explosives raced toward the silo, Phoenix grinned in satisfaction. There was NO way those things could be shot down in time.

Sure enough, each one hit the silo in succession, engulfing the tower in a fiery inferno as it collapsed from its weakened structural support.

"Such a beautiful sight… Over."

"Amen to that. Let's go home, boys. Over."

A/N: … and on their flight home, a wing of 500 P.O.ed Soviet pilots caught up with them and blew them to smithereens. The end.

Next chapter will come when it's finished, let's leave it at that. Let me know if you thought this chapter was of good length, or if you would like it to be longer/shorter/etc.


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